The Doll's Fan
by Stripes of Scarlet
Summary: She knew and admired Zoro for most of her life. When she finds him again, will he remember her? Or will his ego cloud his judgement? Her devotion may lead her to a wrong assumption of what love really is.
1. A Doll Walking Among Men

They call her the Fan Girl, but not because she has an unhealthy obsession with pretty boys...

Don't assume too much from the character from the first few paragraphs until she actually starts to do stuff. It'll probably change your assumptions of her, unless me typing this did.

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Chapter 1: A Doll Walking Among Men

She walked alone, taking little steps that her dress let her take in stride and her wooden shoes scraping along the dirt ground. Her eyes were closed and a fan to her face, covering her mouth. Even though she walked solo, no one missed her in the crowd as she walked in a straight line, everyone else maneuvered around her, double taking. Her attire was uncommon there or anywhere for that matter. Her pink kimono stood out among the dirt colors and grays that others were wearing.

Her face was also attracting attention as well. It looked like a porcelain geisha doll, the white powder covering any visible skin tone and purple tint around her eyes to accent them and rosy pink cheeks. She folded the fan in her hand and brought it to her side, clinking it next to a sword. She had a silk bag strapped around her and hung at her right, opposite her sword. She suddenly stopped, and turned to her left to a building. No one in the crowd was stopped from her actions. She walked through the lines of people moving perpendicular to her without so much as stepping to the side to miss anyone, nor did she touch anyone either. She entered the restaurant and opened her eyes.

She found an open table near the kitchen and moved to sit in it. Silence followed her as she walked, and gawking accompanied her as she arrived. She sat down and slipped her fan into her silk bag and adjusted her kimono so she could move easier. When she looked up, there was already a waiter standing there for her order.

"Just sake please." She smiled at him and he nodded and walked away. Since she had come in the others had started to talk again, and her presence was slowly starting to fade away from the others. Well, all except one attendee.

"Wow! Look at her! She's a classic beauty!" Sanji had jumped out of his chair and now had hearts in his eyes as he stared at the girl in the pink kimono. She had not taken notice of him since the waiter had distracted her to face the other side to take her sake.

"Sanji, you say that about all the girls!" Usopp stopped in wolfing down his food to speak to Sanji, and then quickly continued after finishing.

"Yeah, but look at her!" Since Sanji was so enthusiastic about it, Nami, Luffy, Chopper and Usopp looked up from their food. Zoro kept his head down. Usopp stopped eating and his mouth was agape, Nami and Chopper were as well, Luffy looked slightly confused.

"Why's she wearing that stuff?" Luffy spoke through a mouth full of turkey leg. He'd never seen a girl dress like that.

"Kind of a fancy dress to be wearing around here." Nami tried taking a closer look at the girl, aside from her face and dress and noticed she had a sword. She turned back slowly making sure to remember her just in case.

"It's beautiful!"

"Down lover boy." Nami scowled at Sanji and pulled him to his chair causing him to sit down with a large thud. The girl looked in their direction. When they all noticed, they gave their own ways of reactions. Sanji turned bright red and smiled like a crazed person, Usopp smiled like a _normal_ person, Nami gave a small wave and nod, Chopper giggles and waved a hoof at her, and Luffy shook his hand wildly from side to side while trying to yell the word "HI!" through his mouthful of rice. The girl sort of chuckled at their polite nature and nodded her head back to them in kindness, and that was when she saw him, Roronoa Zoro. In the flesh.

She sat with her mouth agape for a moment before catching herself as she noticed confused stares. She quickly stood up and placed some Berries on the table and shuffled out quickly.

"Oh, she left." Sanji slumped down and rested his head against his hand, sad.

"Hey, Zoro, did you see that girl? She was really pink!" Luffy gulped down a huge piece of pork and stared at Zoro who just raised one eye to him.

"You don't think that was just the huge pig you ate?"

"HA! No! There was a girl just there in bright and shiny pink!"

"It was silk, pretty expensive stuff. She also had a bag made of it too." Nami looked to the door where the girl had left through and saw nothing but hordes of people walking by. This was a pretty busy part of the town. Where their boat was, however, was in a lighter part of town, away from the big crowds. "I also saw a sword, maybe she's a pirate." The others looked at her for a second, but she kept her head looking at the door for a few more seconds and turned back. "So, is everyone done?"

The girl walked to the port where the boats were swaying slowly in the waves. She scanned them, looking for a boat with sword scratches on it. Last she heard of Zoro was he had become a pirate hunter. She figured seeing him here, he had stolen a pirate ship and sailed here himself. This was a far off possibility, but no other possibility came into her head, so she settled.

As she was looking over the boats for a double take, she heard something behind her. A group of shuffling feet and talking. She turned around and saw the people from the restaurant approaching her. It seemed they had yet to notice her. But then, the strange reindeer pointed her out.

"Hey you guys, look, it's that girl." Everyone looked from Chopper to the port where he was pointing. There stood the girl, standing out as if a page from a history book of a real geisha girl. The only aspect of her that didn't seem geisha was her light brown and wavy hair that was up in a bun. She saw that they noticed her, and she quickly started to shuffle away, angry again at the little room her kimono gave her to walk. Zoro wasn't with them, why?

Before the guys could get to talk to her, she had disappeared out of sight, heading back to the inner part of town.

"Hey, where are your sword stores? Hey… hey!" Zoro was walking through the busy crowds and was getting pushed around in the wrong direction he wanted to go. He tried to walk against the current of the street, but it seemed to be even harder than trying to walk through rushing water.

At one point, he popped out of the crowd and got to a spot where he could stay in one place. He grunted in anger and started to walk off back to the boat in defeat. Half way there, though, he caught sight of who must have been what the others were talking about. A girl, clearly out of her element, was walking in his direction. Her kimono, pink and he also saw purple fans sewn in, was reflecting the sun so it put a sort of soft glow around her. If he were in the desert, there was no joking that she'd be a mirage, but this wasn't the desert. And she wasn't a mirage. None the less, she was just another girl in a town and as long as she wasn't causing him or his friends' trouble, she needn't be troubled herself. As he was walking back, he didn't notice the gaze that the girl had on him as they approached to pass.

She saw it. The sword was slung to his side in between two others. She then passed Zoro who didn't even look down, but she was still happy her thick makeup was covering any _real_ rosy cheeks she may have had. As they completely passed each other the girl made a decision and she took a strong step forward and the back of her kimono ripped up to the back of her knee and she quickly unsheathed her sword. She spun around and swung the sword at him. Zoro saw these actions coming quickly and unsheathed one of his swords to counter. They stayed in that position for several seconds, the girl was shaking trying to keep a good defense against Zoro.

"There something wrong with you?" He looked at the girl straight in the eye with a stern, pissed off expression. She didn't respond then, she jumped back to relieve herself of the pressure.

"Nothing at all." She ran forward, and swung, by now Zoro had unsheathed a second sword and stopped hers by making an X with the two. It was then that he noticed the kind of sword she had. It looked like whoever made it took their time and it paid off. The blade looked incredibly strong yet also light that helped for a swordswoman, but the real thing that caught his eye was the hilt. It was black and made nearly unnoticeable curves that accented the hand, giving it better grip. Before he could look even closer the girl shot back again, not able to withstand that pressure for too long. She was panting, not really putting up any kind of fight for Zoro. He stood up straight and looked down at her in confusion.

"You know, you're pretty weird. Not only are you dressed crazy but you're crazy to challenge me when you can barely hold your own sword right." The girl looked straight at the ground from the comment as her breath was still uneasy. Her hair was starting to fall out of her bun, and her kimono ripped a little bit more. No matter, she'd sew it back up later. She stood up, looked at him, and smiled.

"I'd expect someone like Roronoa Zoro to notice imperfections like that. You were always keen on correctness."

Zoro looked confused. Did he know this girl?

"Have we met before?" At the question, the girl looked down at the ground again and closed her eyes tightly thinking.

_It's nothing. It's been years since we've seen each other. I do look different anyhow. _

She looked back up with a smile that seemed to show that she'd given up power. But that was hardly the case.

"Yes, we have. I'll give you time to remember." As she spoke these words, she slipped a hand into her silk bag and wrapped her hand tightly around a long item. "But now," She said as she raised her sword and pointed at Zoro, "I challenge you to a fight." Zoro sighed; he knew he could beat her hands down. She wasn't the best swordswoman in the world or within the mile probably. He thought about turning her down, but he really couldn't remember a time when he did turn someone down. So, instead, he tried to make her give it up.

"Do you really think that's a good idea? You've obviously heard of me so you must know I'm pretty good. And, no offense, you don't have much of a hold on that sword of yours. You don't really do it justice." Well she knew that was true. But it was her sword.

"Maybe I should get a new one then. How about this." She pulled out what she was gripping out of the bag and opened it up. It was a fan. Blue in color, it depicted waves in front of a mountain crashing up with force up to a storm. "If you beat me, you get this priceless fan, made of pure silk with small white jade gems in it." Zoro looked confused of why the girl would think he wanted it, but she continued. "You could trade it for food or money and use it as you please. And if I win, I get that sword of yours." She pointed toward his belt and the sole sword he still had sheathed. Kuina's sword.

"No. I'd never give that sword away, not even for all the money in the world." Zoro stood stern in his decision, and the girl knew why.

"I understand, but as you said, I'm not the best with the sword myself. Easy win, right? Mean while, I get to say I fought the great pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro."

Zoro still couldn't find logic in her thinking, but went along with it since he figured that fan would be worth a lot. And this would be an easy win for him. He started to chuckle as he removed the black bandana from his arm and wrapped it around his head then unsheathed the third sword.

"You asked for it." He looked up to see her smiling sweetly as if she was getting ready for a tea date. He then charged at her and swung his swords at her. The girl, still having the fan in one hand, ran backwards and swung back at Zoro to block his attacks. Zoro kept up with his swings and the girl kept running backwards and blocking them, each block getting a little sloppier than the last.

Zoro then gave what he figured would be the last blow of the fight, he didn't actually want to hurt the girl, she didn't seem like a real enemy. She just seemed confused. Zoro then swung his head, getting ready to use Kuina's sword, and aimed for her midsection (but just a little off to catch her off balance). She awkwardly jumped back again and looked like she was about to fall, but she had held onto something that kept her up.

The girl had put the fan in the way of the sword and it ripped through it. She folded the fan back together, getting a grip on the sword with her strange metal edges from the fan. Zoro's eyes widened. He was now leaning over the girl, holding her up from falling for if he became less tense he would fall on her. He tried to speak through the sword in his mouth.

"I thought you said that fan was worth a lot of money!" He looked up at the girl's perfect doll painted face. She looked at him and smiled with that strange sincere and kind smile.

"I apologize dearly, but I lied." She then jumped back so her feet were now out from under Zoro and she pushed off the ground and jumped in the air taking advantage of the time that Zoro was off guard. She held tight onto her fan and as she spun in the air it ripped the sword right out of Zoro's mouth, against his tries and wishes. She landed several feet behind him, her fan in her left hand and she grabbed the sword with her right. Zoro spun around quickly.

"Give that back! It's not yours!" He moved to attack her for real but was stopped by her words.

"Kuina was going to give it to me." She looked up from her squatting position to a dumbfounded Zoro. She knew Kuina.

"If you were still wondering who I was, my name's Mahiru Kanzen. We grew up together." She saw the look on his face go from scared to confused. He still didn't remember. Oh well. It was no big deal she thought. Or was it?

"The sword, her sword—" Zoro looked worried for a second before she placed the sword back down on the ground in front of him.

"I know this sword means a lot to you. Even though it is rightfully mine by the wishes of Kuina before her untimely death, I believe you should keep it, because you could do a lot better with it than I." She moved to her knees and bowed at him just like a geisha would. She got back up and brushed off the dirt on her kimono. "It was nice seeing you again Zoro." Again bowing, she turned and walked away. Still, after all that, Zoro couldn't for the life of him remember who she was and how she knew Kuina and him. But she did, as she said.

Zoro watched her walk back into the crowds of fast walkers after slipping the useless fan back into her bag. She oddly walked in a perfectly straight line through them all, not faltering in step or slowing in speed. Unlike him, she could find a way to gracefully maneuver through large crowds. He looked back down at his swords and smiled in memory of Kuina. He turned around knowing he'd have to explain what took him so long to get back to the ship but he saw he'd have to explain even faster.

"Hey Zoro! Where have you been? It couldn't take that long to look at sword shops when you're broke! What's up?" Nami and everybody else were walking toward him and he shot his head back to the crowd. He couldn't see her. Turning back, he was about to open his mouth until he was cut off by gasps of the people behind him.

The crowd had stopped moving and was forming a circle spreading out from a certain area. People were talking as fast as they were walking before with worry in their voice. A young man turned around and yelled out, "Someone get a doctor!"

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Shade- I Don't know what to think of it now… the idea came to me the other day and I haven't thought it all out but I know _what_ I want to happen. It'll probably be short, I dunno.


	2. Little Kai

Chapter 2: Little Kai

A small child, a girl with raven black hair, was sitting perpendicular to an older woman who seemed to be surveying the girl's moves. On her knees, she was moving in memorized steps to drink her tea. She stared at the floor and made each one like a robot, practiced and practiced over and over again, repeating herself just like the dozens of times before that day. By now, the woman watching her stopped putting tea in the girl's cup and replaced it with fountain water. Not because the tea upset the girl's stomach after the fourth cup of consumption, but because all that tea cost money.

When the girl finished, she bowed to the woman and stood up and left the room in another string of robotic moves she was taught. Once her body had left the room, the girl waited in slight fear at what would happen next. She waited several seconds till the woman inside called for her back in. The girl entered in a more nonchalant way than before and sat on her knees waiting for the woman's grade. She looked into her older eyes as she sipped tea out of her cup, looking at the girl who appeared to be a mini her. She set her cup down and waited a few seconds before giving the girl a slight nod of achievement, telling her she did well. The little girl smiled and stood up in following the woman. They walked out into the bright spring sun and took in the sights around them. The little girl looked up as she held onto the older woman's limp fingers.

"Mother? What shall we eat for dinner?"

_Later_

"Hiiiiiiiii-YAH!" A young, black haired girl swung down her wooden sword on her opponent and he fell to the ground with swirls in his eyes. A group of boys to the side made the usual sounds of surprising defeat, though in this case it wasn't that surprising. She had beaten many, many a time before. A small laugh came from her lips as she extended her hand down to pick the boy back up. He only scowled at her as he rubbed his head and got up himself. Dusting himself off, he started to speak to the girl but a sudden noise to their side interrupted him. All the eyes went toward the town fountain where everyone got their water. There was only one girl there and she was staring at the others in slight fear and embarrassment. An empty pail that was once filled with water lay on the ground with a growing dark circle coming from it. The girl was covering her mouth as the others didn't know exactly what to say. The black haired girl was the first to speak.

"Are you okay there Kai? What happened?" The girl picked the pail up and washed it off in the fountain so there was no dirt on it (She knew that the fountain would soon filter that dirt out). The confused girl looked up into the taller one's eyes not answering because she was a little flustered. She appeared to be trying to form words but at the sight of all the other boys looking at her she couldn't speak.

"Um… I…" She peered at them again and their strange sneers that didn't necessarily mean they were in a bad mood, they were just boys.

"Here." The taller girl didn't let Kai finish and handed the pail, now full of water, back to her. She was a little surprised and bowed before taking the pail. The girl just laughed a little because bowing was not common that much around where they lived but it was in other places. The taller and older girl knew of this one's situation and knew how she was raised so she didn't take serious consideration of her antics. But that didn't mean that the other boys would.

Several meters away, the boys were laughing and giggling as they play bowed to each other, making fun of little Kai. They spoke in high pitched voices meant to be funny and continued bowing and pretending to drink tea. These actions made Kai go bright red and she quickly took the pail from the other girl's hand. However, in simple reaction, she bowed again as she was going to leave and another round of hearty laughter filled the air. Kai looked down and started to run away but the pail of water was too heavy, this being the reason she had dropped it the first time. And this time was no different. As she tried to keep the pail balanced she was actually starting to tip over because of its heaviness. Then, in front of all these kids, she fell forward and spilled the water again but then she landed in it too. Her clothes now wet and dirty, and with quite a face plant, the other boys began to laugh again but this time they were literally crying from the comedy of it all. Some were on the ground, holding their stomachs, others were reeling back their heads to release even louder fits of laughter. Kai almost began to cry. She could see bits of dirt in her black hair and her eyes were filling up with tears, blurring her vision. However, before she could succumb to her embarrassment, someone came to save her.

"Hey! You little punks shut up! You wouldn't know proper kindness if it stabbed you in the back with a katana!" The older girl had now stepped in front of Kai and was looking angrily at the boys with her wooden sword pointed at them. They started to quiet now, letting the laughter pass and looked at the girl with a scowl.

"What are you gonna do Kuina? Get your dad to scold us?"

"I'll be doing the 'scolding' if you know what I mean." She stepped forward and swung her sword down and looking at them with fury in her eyes. They just gulped and ran away yelling that they were going to tell on her. Tell what she didn't know or care. Kuina turned around and kneeled down to lift Kai up.

"Are you okay Kai? Did I fill the pail too high?" She grabbed the pail again and helped Kai get to her feet.

"It's okay Kuina-chan, it wasn't you're fault." The two girls walked back to the fountain to refill the pail once again, this time only half way.

As Kuina stood with one of her hands on Kai's back, there was still one boy left standing where he had been since ending his fight with Kuina. He looked slightly confused, and walked over.

"What was that all about?" This boy didn't realize what was going on because he was in his own world, yelling at himself for losing to Kuina once again. He hadn't even noticed the whole bit with Kai.

"You're stupid friends were picking on little old Kai." With that, Kuina nudged Kai a bit to show who she was talking about and the little boy looked down at the other black haired girl whom he hadn't noticed. He didn't say anything, and neither did she, Kai just bowed a bit to hide her blushing face.

"Well I gotta go catch up with them. Hani's mom is making lunch!" The boy turned around and was about to run off till he was grabbed by the back of the shirt.

"Hold up! Make sure when you catch up with those dweebs you tell them to say sorry to Kai next time they see her, you got it?" Before replying, the boy looked at the girl again, trying to recognize her face, but instead had to memorize it. He just nodded wildly and said he would so he could be let go. When Kuina did let go, he ran after his friends without looking back. Kai followed the boy's movements as he became smaller and smaller in the distance till he rounded a corner and left her sight.

"Here Kai." Kai turned from where she was looking and saw Kuina holding the pail, now a lot lighter, out for her to take. Kai smiled at her, bowed, and said her thanks. She then turned around and left for home.

Kuina stood there, and watched as Kai, the little girl most of the town talked about, leave for home and her mother, Sakuya. Kuina had heard stories of Sakuya when she was younger from her father. Her father never directly talked about her to Kuina, she would eavesdrop on her father's conversations with other people when she was supposed to be in bed. From what she had heard, she wasn't the nicest woman in the world. But she also wasn't the most fortunate. She had been injured back in her mid twenties, her prime, and she could no longer be what she was best at, a geisha. She was forced to settle down and make a family. Something she never wanted to do.

Dealing with Kai on the other hand, she was the girl whom everyone said was unfortunate for having Sakuya as a mother. After her injury, she became cruel and rude because of her condition. She was plagued to be in bed for the next 8 months instead of out to parties. Her own depression and pain became everyone else's suffrage and nuisance. Poor little Kai had to deal with it every day of her life. And after 9 months of pain for Sakuya, she wasn't the apple of her mother's eye, especially since she was supposed to be an abortion.

Kuina couldn't even imagine how hard little Kai had it for the first few years of her life. Those are the years you learn by experiencing things, like what a dog feels like or the sound of bird chirping. But little Kai didn't get that, she got pain.

By the time Kai was five, Sakuya was fed up with beating and regretting her own mistake. Instead, she decided to make her daughter into what she couldn't be because of her injury. Yes, it was the all too common live-your-own-dream-through-your-child syndrome. She began teaching Kai how to be a geisha.

A door was heard closing in the reaches of Mahiru's mind, and she sprang open from unconsciousness to see a wooden ceiling above her. She tried to move her head to her right to see where she was but found she couldn't do it. She was stuck watching the ceiling. She felt awkward, like she was entombed because of her paralyzing feeling but then realized if she moved slowly she could lift herself up. Doing this, she came to a sit up position out toward the center of the room with her legs over the side of the bed she was laid upon. She scanned what she could, and saw her silk bag opened next to her sword. She started to panic and feared that something was taken or broken from her bag. While she tried to stand up and move across the room in her condition, the door that she heard close now opened.

"Hey, what are you doing up? You should still be resting." Out of the corner of Mahiru's eye, she could see a reindeer, standing on its hind legs and talking to her. It looked the one she saw in the restaurant. When she saw it the first time, she thought it was a child in costume. She didn't know why a child _would_ be in costume, but no other explanation came to mind. But now, it appeared that the lips of this apparent costume were moving like the real thing. The surprise she felt from seeing this thing in her current condition was just enough to make her collapse in surprise. She fainted right where she was and the sound of her body hitting the floor caused everyone else to turn wherever they stood in wonder of what was going on in the clinic.

--

Shade- Strange place to end the chapter but it's gotta end somewhere. My original intent for the girl's name was Kanzen which means 'perfect' and I had Mahiru be her last name even though it is a first name, not a last. But I decided to have her first be Mahiru and Kanzen will be her fake last name now. Okay, I don't know when I'll next update because I don't know where exactly to go from here but I'll figure something out. So anyways, as always, please review and give me your opinion; questions, comments, anything plaguing your mind at the moment.


	3. Wake Up

Chapter 3: Wake Up

The darkness surrounded her. The only light that came was from the moon outside. She had been up for hours doing as her mother told her and couldn't even sit till it was perfect. All was quiet except for the sound of night creatures and the plucking of a shamisen. Sakuya sat on her knees playing her shamisen and watched her daughter dancing in front of her intently. Her young child's face had a small smile on it, it was not real, but pretend and meant solely for this practice.

Kai had two fans in her grip and spun around, opening and closing them to a certain beat. She greatly did not want to look at her mother's face because she was sure it would be filled with anger and hate at the horrid dance she was giving. But her eyes could not do as she pleased. Just thinking of her mother's face in her mind she always expected it to look like it did whenever company was over; bright, vibrant and smiling with such a sincerity no one would ever have thought she had frowned once in her life. The beauty that it radiated made her mother glow with perfection. But never when she frowned. And it had been a while since Kai saw her smile.

As her eyes gazed up from her own feet to her mother's dark brown orbs, the ones she inherited, she saw the common angry eyebrow that twitched when she was aggravated. The straight face that she wore showed strain and tension and Kai knew she was not doing well. This thought, however, only made her do worse and she missed a couple of steps as she thought of her mother's anger.

Quickly, the music stopped and the sound of a huff surprised Kai into freezing where she stood. She stared at her mother who stamped toward her in anger. She had dropped her shamisen with a clank and grabbed Kai by the arm and yanked her to her own side. She started to yell at her. A common thing among the two, Kai would mess up and Sakuya would scold her for it. Soon enough she began to beat her. Hitting her over and over again Kai was on the ground crying from the pain and her mother's words, calling her worthless and a failure. After several minutes of that, her mother stopped and dropped her child's limp arm. Sakuya left Kai crying on the floor and returned to her prior position with her shamisen.

"Again." Sakuya sat straight faced watching her daughter stand up in pain and start her dance over. Kai tried to suppress her tears like her mother told her but couldn't help but let a few slip through. Kai's skin was very pale, it didn't have that dark tint her mother had. Instead, she had her father's skin tone.

Kai finished her dance even worse then she had started it, but her mother just left the room to sleep. She told Kai that she couldn't recede back into her room until she practiced till she thought that her dance was finally acceptable. Kai sat for several minutes before playing the music in her head and dancing again, this time with her eyes closed.

When Kai closed her eyes, she saw a world much better then the one she lived in. She imagined her mother's smile, her father's presence, and her own happiness. It was a world where she was normal, not beat for imperfections. Something Kai never knew was that she did her activities better when she closed her eyes. Often she would get lost in the music when she danced and would close her eyes, but her mother would yell at her for it. She always said that Kai needed to connect with her audience, and to do so she had to look at them. The only compliment Kai ever got from her mother was that she had beautiful brown eyes like her own. She said it was the only thing she inherited from her mother. Everything else was her father's. Sakuya rarely mentioned Kai's father. He wasn't a man that made Sakuya smile. He was one that made her cringe.

"Hey Kai! How are ya?" Kai was sitting on the side of the fountain eating her lunch when Kuina came up to her. It looked like she had just gotten finished with a sword fighting session and was sort of sweaty. Kai smiled at her and stood up to bow and answered that she was fine. When she started sitting back down Kuina stuck her hands into the fountain and splashed her face with water then sat down next to Kai.

"Kuina?" Kai's voice was small. She didn't often talk to other people nor did they ever try to talk to her.

"Yeah Kai?"

"What's it like using a sword?" Kai had watched Kuina and other students practicing their sword fighting in her father's dojo. She found it interesting and sort of like dancing. They were told to do a certain move and corrected if they weren't just like the others who had it right. The only difference was that in real combat the person could do whatever they wanted, working in the moves whenever and wherever but ultimately doing what they felt like. Kai didn't get that when she danced or did tea ceremonies. Everything had to be exact. It had to be just the same every time and never different. Being different was bad in her mother's eyes, if it wasn't something certain, it was wrong. That is why Kai liked sword fighting. It was freedom. Freedom to do anything. Nothing they did was wrong.

"Well it's great fun, I love it. But I'm getting a little older now. Girls aren't supposed to use swords. That's what my dad tells me at least."

"Why not?"

"Girls are, well, supposed to do what you do, I guess. Dancing, cooking, learn to serve men and all that. I was never one for it, but now, I have to learn. I don't know how I'll get through all the girly stuff though." Kuina finished her answer and gave Kai something to think about. Kai nibbled on her food a couple more seconds before speaking again.

"Well Kuina, how about this. What if I help you act lady like and you, well, you can teach me how to use a sword." Kai looked down after putting forth her proposition as if it was a bad idea. Kuina looked at her and laughed a little.

"Why would you want to learn how to use a sword Kai?"

"Well, I've seen the things you do, and it's really interesting. It kinda reminds me of dancing." Kai's answer gave Kuina a little smile. She knew Kai wasn't very outgoing so this came as a slight surprise.

"Sure! That sounds like fun! I would love to." Kuina's enthusiasm made Kai smile a little and she jumped up from her seat in excitement and bowed for her leave.

"We can start tomorrow. I'll teach you the proper way to drink tea at a party."

"Great, then I'll show you how to hold the sword correctly and other stuff too. Bye Kai!" Kuina waved after Kai who walked back home grinning ear to ear.

Her chest heaved up and down wildly as she tried to get her breath back. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see several unknown faces talking over her. No one was looking down and hadn't noticed her waking up. Trying to move her head, she took notice of a sound, a very familiar sound. It was her shamisen. Someone was playing it. And badly. Very badly. Coughing a bit, she turned her head and caused everyone to take notice of her.

"She's awake."

"No duh dumbass."

"Hey! Don't talk to him like that!"

"OW! If you touch me one more time you dirty thief!..."

Mahiru was ignoring the voices that covered up the sound she was trying to listen to. Slowly, she turned even more and saw something strange. There was a person holding her shamisen, and trying to pluck it. He had a confused look on his face which seemed to say he didn't know what he was playing with. Then, another body came into view. It was that reindeer, looking confused at the instrument as well. He tried to pluck a string with his hoof and it made Mahiru go wide eyed. Ultimately, she rolled over quickly, and spun off the bed. After this, the voices and music stopped.

"Are you okay?" A head of orange entered Mahiru's line of vision and she saw a girl, a little younger than her it seemed. She still didn't answer but looked around the room confused. Then, her eyes settled on the boy with her shamisen and she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Don't touch that!" The volume of her voice made her head ache and she clutched it and curled into a small ball. The boy next to the instrument still held it, and looked between it and the girl with a strange face.

"I think we got some explaining to do. She must be so confused about what's going on." The orange haired girl stood up and looked at a blonde. "Sanji, go put some soup on for her. We'll try and get her to the kitchen."

Mahiru felt a hand on her shoulder, helping her to her feet.

"You're okay, looks like you ripped your dress. I can help you mend that. My name is Nami, what's yours?" Mahiru was then led from the room out into a hallway. She turned her head back to see the boy still plucking at her instrument. Nami could see and turned around too. "Hey Luffy! Stop touching her things and get into the kitchen!" At the girl's strong voice, Mahiru stared into her demanding eyes, surprised at how straight forward she was toward her male friend. Then, she was practically shoved into the kitchen by the strange boy.

"Food! Food! Food!"

"Luffy! Watch where you're going! Sorry about him, he's a little hyper most… er… all the time. So, what was your name?" Mahiru looked reluctantly at the girl as she was softly put into a kitchen chair.

"Mahiru, my name is Mahiru."

"Well Mahiru, you took a pretty bad fall out there. What happened? Did you hit something?" Mahiru took several seconds to think before answering her. She was trying to comprehend what was going on right now and where she was.

"No no, I just fainted I think." She pressed her hand to her forehead as if to check her own temperature. She was still trying to figure out if she were in a doctor's office and the rocking feeling she had was just from wooziness or if she was actually on some kind of a ship. Finally, she found out her answer when a door opened from above and the sea breeze swept through the room. "This is a ship!" Mahiru stood up quickly, surprised at where she was, but sat back down just as fast since she got a head rush.

"Well, yes this is a ship. The Merry Go. We brought you here to be worked on by our doctor, Chopper."

"Chopper?" Mahiru said the name in confusion since it seemed like a strange one. Before she could think even further, though, the blonde man named Sanji set a bowl of soup right in front of her.

"Here you are my dear. Beef soup, it'll heal your pretty little face right up!" Mahiru looked up at the strange blonde man who had a heart in his eye. He wouldn't stop looking at her and it scared her slightly. Plus, she had never seen such blonde hair before, at least not where she lived.

"Thank you." Her voice was small, and she gave a small bow to him before picking up her spoon. She ate silently, ignoring the eyes that were boring holes in her still painted face. The only noise was coming from the boy who had been playing her shamisen as he was eating rather loudly. Mahiru saw it as very rude.

"Why do you look like that?" The boy spoke unexpectedly and Mahiru jumped a little. She looked up and saw the boy staring at her intently with a group of noodles hanging from his mouth. She grimaced a little, not used to the openness of a man's eating when he wasn't drunk. Actually, she had never even seen a drunken man eat as rudely as this boy.

"Luffy! Be respectful! Eat your food before you speak to a lovely lady!" Sanji hit Luffy on the back of the head and his face landed in his practically empty bowl of soup. Mahiru went wide eyed at what was happening. Nami took notice and spoke up.

"Okay you two, calm it down, you're scaring her! Stop fighting and act normal for once."

"Yes Nami." Both Sanji and Luffy spoke in unison and instantly stopped. Again, Mahiru stared. She had never seen a woman have so much control and power over a man before. In her experience, the woman was always told what to do by a man and followed his every wish and desire. Even more so when he was a Danna.

"So, why do you look like that?" Luffy's question prompted Sanji and Nami to raise their hands in the air about ready to hit him but they stopped at the sound of a small voice.

"I am a geisha." When she spoke, Mahiru got several stares from the three feuding teens. She looked at them after setting her spoon down and waited for a reaction.

"What's a geisha?" Luffy's question was set aside as Sanji and Nami started to talk themselves.

"Really? You're a real geisha?"

"Incredible! Those are the most beautiful women of all Japan!"

"I thought there weren't any geisha left."

"I think I'm in love!"

"Sanji?"

"Yes Nami?"

"CAN IT!"

Mahiru stared between the two people in utter confusion. Part of her still thought that she was out cold and dreaming since she had never seen such animated people before.

"What's a geisha?" Luffy still did not know.

"Don't they give sex to men?" A new voice entered the room and Mahiru stared wide eyed for two reasons; what was said, and who said it.

"ZORO!"

"Shut up you stupid Moss head! That's so rude!" Sanji was about to kick Zoro in the face but Zoro stopped it easily. Mahiru slowly turned around in her seat and looked at the tall body of Roronoa Zoro. Her breath caught in her throat for a second before finding the voice to speak. Her voice was calm and clear, with the same polite tone she used when she first fought Zoro.

"Those are failed geisha. Ones who cannot make enough money to support their okiya and have to rely on other forms of work." Mahiru was silently cheering herself on in her head for she had never spoken to Zoro like this before. Geisha school definitely had something to do with her ability to speak to people better and not shrink in nervousness. She was happy no one else could feel the pounding of her heart in their head as she could in hers.

"See Marimo? She ain't a skank, she's a perfect flower!" Mahiru smiled slightly, and stood up. Her head was still a little woozy feeling and she wanted some fresh air. Standing up, she decided to say a little more before she left the kitchen.

"You can tell if one is _that_ kind of failed geisha by their obi. Obi's tie in the back, but if it is tied in the front, you have found a failed geisha." She turned and bowed to the group. Her eyes had been closed the whole time and she began to turn to leave before another question filled her ear.

"Why does their obi matter?" It was the young boy again.

"Simple, if a woman must be taking her kimono on and off all night, it is easier for her to tie the obi in the front." She gave a small smile, and fully turned to leave. The faces of the crew were priceless. Zoro simply raised an eyebrow, Sanji smirked but tried to hide it, Nami just had a look of disgust and Luffy was as confused as ever.

"I still don't know what a geisha is!"

Outside, Mahiru looked at her surroundings. She was still in port which was good and she could see the place where she had fainted. Lucky for her, she felt perfectly fine now. It had been a while since she did anything as physical as her fight with Zoro and she should have sat down instead of walk off.

Her hands were hidden in the long sleeves of her personally made kimono. At first, she had wished she had put her komon on instead since she had to rip this one yet again, but that thought quickly depleted soon after. Hearing something suspicious above her, she gripped tightly onto a fan she had attached to the inside of her sleeve and froze. Waiting, she heard a voice above panic.

"Intruder!"

The voice was rather wavy sounding, not exactly something pleasant to listen to. Instantly, she slid the fan out and fanned it open while turning around to face the voice. Before she could see the face of the voice, a small silver ball came flying at her. In under a second, Mahiru brought her fan to her face and began closing it, trying to time it well. When she was done, and closed it as much as she could, she swung her arm out to the side and looked up. She could see a pencil nosed man looking down at her with his mouth wide open.

"Where'd my star go?" His head flicked back and forth from left to right trying to find his missing ammunition.

"You mean this?" Mahiru moved her fan from her side back to her face. In between the iron guards of the fan was the supposed 'star' Usopp was talking about. He stared down at her in amazement at the accuracy of timing she had to have had to actually _catch_ his star.

"What the—?"

"Usopp! Did you forget about her? What are you doing trying injure her? Are you crazy?" Nami stepped out onto the deck and stared up at their marksman.

"I'm sorry! I did forget! I panicked!" Usopp cowered down into the Crow's Nest.

"Wow! How'd you catch that?" Luffy came out as well as the rest of the crew. Even the little reindeer with a glass in between his hooves.

Mahiru blushed a little, but of course it couldn't be seen, and opened her fan, letting the small metal ball fall into her hand. When she looked up, she could see everyone looking at her. She felt slightly self conscious with all of their eyes on her when she was unsure of what she looked like exactly. She scanned their faces, and they were all friendly, all except Zoro. He seemed to be glaring at her which told her he had yet to figure out who she was.

The little reindeer then stood forward, holding the glass up for her. Chopper was surprised that this girl was not scared of the fact he could talk and walk on two legs. She seemed very respectful to everyone.

"Here, this should help you after your faint. Sorry I didn't give it to you sooner, I was a little distracted." Chopper shrank away a little, embarrassed at his unprofessional antics. However, Mahiru just smiled (she had seen stranger things than a talking reindeer), took the cup and gave Chopper a small bow in thanks.

"Yes, with my shamisen I believe." Mahiru took a sip of the slightly bitter tasting drink and wondered what had been put into it. While she spoke, she looked back at the crew that still looked at her and looked at the younger boy who was plucking it initially. He had started to walk over and stood in front of her, staring at her intently. She just looked back at him with her brown eyes, waiting for something.

"What's a geisha?"

The boy's question made Mahiru smile slightly under her bright red lips. She took a step back so she felt more comfortable and looked back at him.

"A geisha is an artist. That is what geisha means. We entertain for others with our skills in music, dance, and conversation."

"Music?"

"Yes, the instrument you were playing before was my shamisen. I assume you rummaged through my things." Mahiru finished her drink and looked up to see what the boy who do next.

"So you can play that?" She nodded. There was a pause and Luffy seemed to be thinking for a few seconds. "Would you like to join my crew?"

Mahiru was slightly confused. "Crew?"

"Yeah! My pirate crew! You could be the musician! And if you could stop Usopp's attack like that then maybe you could fight too!" Mahiru just looked at the big happy face of the strange boy in front of her. Giving a slight giggle, she answered.

"I am sorry, but I would never—" She stopped. Pirate crew? _Pirates?_ But Zoro was with them… and he was a pirate hunter, wasn't he? "…be a pirate." She finished her thought after a short pause. Staring at each person very briefly in a line, she walked past them all to go retrieve her things and said "Excuse me" in a small voice. Quickly, she reappeared with her silk bag full of her things, ready to leave.

"Thank you for helping me, if you would like me to show you around town I would be very pleased to. I don't live here but I have seen most of it. If there's anything you need—"

"Wait Mahiru!" She stopped quickly at the sound of Chopper's voice and turned to see him looking up at her.

"Yes?"

"You can't be going out and about, the drink I gave you will upset you greatly if you move around too much. It would be better if you stayed here; there are side effects that I want to see if you get."

"Really? Well, all right. How long will this take?"

"Several hours. You could just stay in the infirmary."

"Okay, I suppose I must if you are not finished with me then."

Chopper nodded happily and led her back to the infirmary. While Mahiru passed all the pirates she looked up to see Zoro again. She made no change in her facial expression, just glanced at his face and turned at the same instance he looked back. Leaving nothing but her back to be seen, she smiled.

Later

"You fought her? You lousy swordsman! How could you do that!"

"Hey, _she_ wanted to fight _me_!"

"Really? Why?"

"How should I know? She seemed like a nut job to me." Zoro wasn't about to admit that fear ran through him when she ripped Kuina's sword out of his mouth. He remembered confusion following soon after. He looked at the faces of Sanji and Nami who were the ones talking. He huffed, and turned to walk out to the upper deck.

"I'm taking a nap." He stood from his seat and left the galley wordlessly. The others just looked at each other and shook their heads.

Out on the deck in Zoro's usual spot for sleeping, he sat trying his hardest to remember who this girl was.

"_Mahiru… Mahiru… Mahiru…"_ As hard as he could think, he couldn't remember a girl named Mahiru from where he grew up or from when Kuina was still alive. Nodding off finally into a nap, he kept repeating the same name over and over again in his head.

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Shade- Please review.


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